I am always disappointed when I’m on-line or in a big box store and I see either 10′ x 10 ‘ or linear foot pricing. I know that it is a great way to get potential customer attention, but you need to understand just how misleading this type of pricing can be and why it is just another marketing ploy. It is just like the marketing you will see for 50% off cabinetry sales. Always ask 50% off of what?, because almost all cabinetry is sold at 50% off the MSRP pricing.

When you see advertising like this you might think that cabinetry is priced by the foot. This is incorrect. So the first thing you need to know is what exactly does that 10′ x 10″ pricing includes and how those items would fit into your kitchen design. What you will come to find is that there are too many variables in any kitchen to establish a per foot price. Cabinets are always priced according to the materials that is used, the size, width, height and depth, accessories included, type of finish used, door style etc.

Here is why a linear foot price should never be considered.

Take a three foot section of kitchen space and let see how using different cabinets to fill that space effects the pricing.

Option 1 ) A single 36″ sink base cabinet with 2 doors and a false drawer, no shelf. Since most sink cabinets are placed under a window there are no additional cabinets needed to fill that 3′ space. This is the least costly way to fill the space. You can figure some where around $350.00 for this cabinet.

Option 2) Two 18′ wide base cabinets that are 24″ deep and 34.5″ high and two wall cabinets 18″ wide x 30″ tall and 12″ deep. These cabinets will fill that same 3′ of space. If you make one of those base cabinets a 3 drawer unit and put a cutlery drawer and two roll out shelves to the other base cabinet and then add a spice rack to one of the upper cabinets and a glass front to the other upper cabinet That same 3′ of space now cost some where around $1200.00 or more than 3x as much as option 1.

Option 3 ) Lets say you need pantry space so you decide to fill that 3″ of space with a 36″ wide x 84″ tall x 24″ deep pantry cabinet with a wire pull out pantry insert, and then you add crown molding to the top of the cabinet to give it a more finished look. Now you are looking at some where around $1750.00 or more than 5X as much as option 1.

There are thousands and thousands of options that are available to you and every space is unique in how it can best be configured to meet your individual needs. I hope you can see how the three options I used meet three drastically different needs. So if someone mentions, or you see linear footage pricing in an advertisement, please be aware that it is far from being what your final pricing will end up being.

So how much will your kitchen remodel cost? To arrive at an accurate price you will need to meet with a professional and spend some time figuring out the quality of the cabinets you want to use, add the accessories and the details and then you can arrive at a true price for the job.

Maybe you just want to get an idea of what your space might cost. In that case, you can search online at www.houzz.com or remodelers magazine cost versus value reports. These studies show that the average home owner invest somewhere around $10,000 to $15,000 or more for the AVERAGE in cabinetry purchases.

In a nut shell – don’t pay any attention to linear pricing it is very misleading. Instead seek help from an experienced kitchen designer who can walk you through the process to arrive at the right fit at a fair price.

I recently can across this great blog that I thought I would share with you. Fun organizational ideas.

Cable Organization Hacks

If you don’t have one of these charging drawers in our home office or kitchen you probably have to deal with a lot of cables sitting around.

The biggest problem with loose cables is that they are tend to move around, get tangled and mixed up at times. If you mix up the charger intended with for your tablet with on meant for a cell phone if will not draw as much amperage and it will take a lot longer to charge.

Fortunately, there are some easy fixes for keeping your cables organized and this little DIY project is very affordable since you might have some of these items already on hand.

The Binder Clip

Clamping a binder clip to the edge of a table or shelf is a super quick and easy way to organize your charging cables. There are no holes to be drilled and they can be adjusted at any time.

Pen Holder

My favorite postal station used to use this to keep a pen handy for customers signatures. A great alternative use is for keeping cables and chargers organized and in place. This type of holder comes with either a magnetic or adhesive back.

LEGO Characters

If you are an AFOL (adult fan of LEGO) then this cable hack perfect reason for having LEGO figures at work.

The hands on LEGO Minifigures are the perfect size for holding the cables for your cellphone or tablet devices. Thicker cables such as the charger for a MacBook Pro will expand the hands of your figures but it should hold

Sugru, a self-setting silicone rubber, seems to be a favorite choice for mounting the LEGO Minifigures.

This hole is fairly small but I like the idea of the standing LEGO for keeping charging cables from slipping through bigger grommet openings in desks – plus you can see your cute desk buddy more easily.

I’ve always credited playing with LEGO blocks as the start to my interest in Interior Design and Architecture. I still love them and find it hard to keep my hands off when I help the nieces and nephew put together their sets.

More LEGO Creations

As I was searching for pictures to use in this post I can across some ideas from other Creatives. Here’s two of my favorites

Stop waisting your time looking for the perfect kitchen remodeling contractor and start looking for one with integrity.

We have all heard the horror stories about kitchen remodeling project that has gone terribly wrong and then taken months and months and lots of additional money to get it corrected. We all want to avoid this scenario, but as any contractor who has been in the industry for any length of time can tell you, sometimes mistakes happen. What you should be looking for is a kitchen remodeling contract that will treat you fairly, honestly and who take pride in their work. But, where and how do you know when you have found someone who lives up to those standards.

First, look for someone who has an independent company that conducts customer satisfaction surveys. I stress independent because we have all been given the short list from a contractor of happy customers that they have hand picked to put on their referral list.

Second, look for comments from past customers that talk about how the contractor responded when something did go wrong, or ask the contractor to give you the name of someone were something did go wrong on the job and then ask them what they did about it.

Here is an example of what I’m talking about. We recently finished a job where when the granite countertop folks accidently bang into the dishwasher cabinet an caused some damage. Below are the comments that www.GuildQuality.com , the independent survey company we use, gathered from the customer.

Additional Comment

Honest, dedicated, and hardworking craftsman who take pride in their work!

Area For Improvement

Some issues with countertop subcontractor installation and dishwasher cabinet, but they made it right.

Bottom Line:

This what you want to see when looking for a kitchen remodeling contractor.

No one can promise a problem free job but the contractor that you want to work with is someone who can prove that they stand behind their work and make it right when something does go wrong.

To view more reviews of our work go to www.Creationcabs.com and click on the Guild Quality Logo

Kitchens can have a very square box look because of all the right and left angels used to make cabinets. But you can soften up the look of the space just by adding a arched or curved valance to the space. Another way to soften the space is to use an angle cabinet at the entry way or at the end of a run of cabinets. This will also open up the space.

Here are before and after photos of a recent remodel in Orwigsburg, PA

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Creation Cabinetry has been servicing Eastern Pennsylvania since 1986 and, in doing so, has come to learn a thing or two about how to properly care for custom cabinetry - and wooden furniture in general. One of … More >>